What is TOWNS?

TOWNS is a decentralized messaging app and a permissionless group chat protocol. This platform is built on the River protocol and deployed on Layer-2 Base, aiming to become a "Discord alternative" in the Web3 space. The platform was founded by Ben Rubin, the founder of Houseparty.

TOWNS is designed to empower users, allowing them to create, manage, and participate in digital communities called "Towns."

What is TOWNS Token?

TOWNS is the native utility token of the Towns Protocol platform. It plays an important role in the platform, here are some use cases of the TOWNS Token including:

  • Stake / Delegation: Nodes need to delegate tokens to operate, spaces delegate to unlock advanced features.

  • Governance: Holders have the right to vote in the DAO on development, treasury, and roadmap.

  • Incentives: Used as rewards for node operators, active users, space owners, and referrals

If you are interested in the TOWNS Token, you can purchase it on Binance.com.

Binance exchange registration link and purchase LDO: https://accounts.binance.com/register?

Notable features and technologies

TOWNS operates based on several core technologies aimed at democratizing community building and communication:

  • Decentralized architecture: The platform operates on a decentralized network, ensuring no single entity has control over user data or community governance.

  • End-to-end encryption: Private messages are protected by end-to-end encryption, while data is stored on a network of distributed stream nodes instead of centralized servers. This architecture enhances privacy and minimizes censorship risk.

  • Decentralized spaces: Users can create "Spaces" (group chat rooms) without permission. These spaces support private and public configurations and allow access control based on tokens. This means participation rights can be granted based on NFT ownership or other token-based criteria.

  • Monetization and Membership: Creators can sell membership (through subscription models) and manage transactions directly on the platform. Membership and ownership rights are recorded on the Base blockchain, ensuring transparency and permanence through smart contracts.

Architecture and technology of Towns

The architecture of the Towns Protocol is built on several key components:

  • Towns Protocol Chain: This is an EVM-compatible Layer 2 blockchain built on the Celestia platform. It serves as the backbone of the system, processing transactions and storing data.

  • Stream Nodes Network: This network is responsible for routing messages in real-time and ensuring consensus. These nodes operate in a decentralized manner and encrypt the messages.

  • Smart contracts: These contracts are deployed on the Base Mainnet (Ethereum L2) to manage important factors such as membership, governance, and rewards for the protocol.

Key features of Towns

  • Community spaces: Groups on Towns are called "Spaces." Membership in these Spaces is represented as ERC-721 NFTs. This allows Space owners to customize access rights through on-chain or cross-chain logic.

  • Security and privacy: All messages are end-to-end encrypted using Curve25519 keys and AES-GSM algorithms, ensuring that only participants in the conversation can read the content.

  • Consensus and network security: The consensus mechanism of Towns includes nodes producing "mini-blocks", which are then aggregated on the Towns Chain and finally rolled up to Ethereum L1 to enhance security.

  • Environmentally friendly: The protocol uses a Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism and Layer 2 architecture, significantly reducing energy consumption compared to Proof-of-Work blockchains.

Tokenomics

Total Genesis Supply: 10,128,333,333 TOWNS; Maximum total supply after 7 years: 15,327,986,354 TOWNS

Initial allocation (Genesis):

  • Community Reserve: 43.14%

  • Team: 21.46%

  • Airdrop (early users): 9.87%

  • Investor: 13.74%

  • Public Investor (Foundation): 2.62%

  • Nodes Year 1: 7.90%

  • Node Inflation (ongoing): 1.27%

Inflation model & circulating supply disclosure:

  • Initial inflation: 8%/year, gradually decreasing linearly over 20 years to 2%.

  • Distribution mechanism: Inflation rewards (node rewards) are granted bi-weekly through a DAO-managed smart contract.

  • Minting & transfer process: Tokens are minted on the Ethereum mainnet and then bridged to Base for distribution through the Distribution Contract.

  • Buy-and-burn: A portion of ETH collected from protocol usage fees is used to buy back and burn TOWNS – helping balance inflation and support long-term value.

Circulating Supply Schedule:

  • TGE: ~13.4% (≈1.37 billion).

  • After 12 months: ~14.45%.

  • By 84 months: ~20.61% (≈2.2 billion).

  • Long-term: up to ~31.07% of Genesis Supply.

Who created the TOWNS platform?

Towns was created by Here Not There Labs, a technology company focused on building decentralized community platforms.

Main founder:

  • Ben Rubin – Co-founder and CEO of Here Not There Labs.

  • Previously a co-founder of Houseparty (a popular group video calling app acquired by Epic Games) and Meerkat (one of the first mobile livestreaming apps).

  • With extensive experience in social application and online communication, Ben Rubin founded Towns with the goal of bringing ownership and control of chat spaces back to the community — in stark contrast to centralized platforms like Discord or Facebook.

  • In addition to Ben Rubin, the Towns team includes developers, designers, and engineers from major Web2 and Web3 companies like Facebook, Google, Coinbase, Consensys,…

Where to buy TOWNS Token?

You can buy and sell TOWNS tokens on several major centralized (CEX) and decentralized (DEX) cryptocurrency exchanges. Among them, Binance.com is currently the best exchange in the world and supports the buying and selling of this TOWNS cryptocurrency.

If you intend to buy TOWNS, you should go to this exchange to purchase. Below is the Binance registration link:

Binance exchange registration link and purchase TOWNS: https://accounts.binance.com/register?

Scalability and future

Towns Labs develops a Grant Program with funding support of up to $250,000 for new application development projects, bots, membership authority modules, or membership pricing modules within the Towns Protocol ecosystem (season 1 ends on 30/4/2025).

The UI & application interface currently supports both web browsers, and the dev community is continuously developing new clients, including mobile-first or niche-specific interfaces.

Observations & conclusions

Towns is not just a chat application, but a decentralized digital community platform where creators, artists, and organizers can build controlled, revenue-generating communities and increase engagement in a safe and transparent way — completely independent of centralized platforms like Discord, Slack, or Telegram.

With tokenomics supporting users and community owners to receive rewards, Towns is opening up new development directions for decentralized social – digital communication owned by the community.

Note: Investing in cryptocurrency always carries risks. Only invest what you can afford to lose.